On Saturday, April 24th, the Arts Cottage at the Rock-C Ranch near Smithville will play host to the BOB LIVINGSTON TRIO for an evening of great music and storytelling. Officially designated, ‘Austin’s International Music Ambassadors’, the Trio is made up of frontman, former Lost Gonzo Band member, Bob Livingston, guitarist Bradley Kopp, and fiddle player, Richard Bowden. They will come ready to play for the homefolks in Texas, the same great music that brought them standing ovations in Europe and across Africa last Fall.

The travels in Africa were the latest leg on a worldwide tour that began for Livingston in 1986. As a cultural ambassador for the US State Department, he has taken Texas music as far afield as India, Pakistan, Yemen, Thailand and Vietnam, and has demonstrated time and again the unique power that music has to build bridges between peoples of the world. As Livingston says, “When all else fails, music prevails’.

Best known for his membership in the legendary Lost Gonzo Band, and his association with some of the most colorful musicians in Texas including Michael Martin Murphey, Jerry Jeff Walker and Ray Wylie Hubbard, Livingston is making a mark these days in his own right as a singer-songwriter. His 2004 album, ‘Mahatma Gandhi and Sitting Bull’, was named by the Austin American-Statesman as one of the Top 10 CDs the year it was released. Livingston toured last year around a new compilation album entitled, ‘Original Spirit” and is now back in the studio working with Producer Lloyd Maines on a project that signals a return to his Texas roots: a little more ‘Cowboy’ than ‘Cosmic’ this time around. This new album is due to be released in May or June.

The recently opened Arts Cottage is the fruition of the hard work and vision of Pebbles Wadsworth, former director of the University of Texas Performing Arts Center. The beautifully restored century old cottage was relocated to the Rock-C Ranch, less than an hour from Austin, and is now used as a community gathering place for culture, arts and education. The acoustics are excellent and the venue is perfect for music. Come out early, enjoy a glass of wine and watch the sunset, then settle in for a fine night with the Bob Livingston Trio. Seating is limited to 50, so go to: www.cottageofthearts.com , or call 512-633-6533 to reserve your place for this wonderful evening.